Rubik's Cube Brain Teaser Puzzle with Helpful Hints
by Hasbro
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Toys and Games Reviews of Rubik's Cube Brain Teaser Puzzle with Helpful Hints
Customer Review: Frustration, Cubed
Summary: 5 Stars
Ah---at long last, we have the Rubik's Cube in our hot little hands: a scaled representation of the original Lament Configuration, engineered by the mad 18th century French toymaker Phillipe Le Merchant for a jaded aristocrat bored by power and opulence and fever-drunk on the writings of the Marquis de Sade. What to do? You merely arrange the sides of the Cube in such a fashion as to unlock the Configuration, consequently tearing open a planar gateway to Hell, at which point the Cenobites, inter-dimensional space-faring demons with an insatiable appetite for the most sordid types of carnage and torture...
Wait. Ummm....sorry, wrong Cube.
At LONG LAST we have the Rubik's Cube in our hot little hands. Developed by more than 100 of America's most prestigious R&D powerhouses, administered by super-secret counterintelligence officers helmed by top Pentagon officials, built in strictest confidence and only under the most scrupulously Top Secret clearance, the very budgetary procedures for its creation concealed from the most senior personnel at Foggy Bottom and even the White House, The Cube is designed for instruction, interrogation, torture, and execution. Introduce the specimen into a series of interlocking Cubical rooms within the construct, each 20 feet on a side with a total displacement of 400 square feet, each face of every sub-cube featuring a hatchway permitting egress into another identical cube. A pre-selected random number of the sub-cubes feature cunning death traps, ranging from acid-blowguns to area-effect mesh-wire guillotines, providing hours of amusement and poltical re-education for those unlucky enough to...
Oh. Ummm---sorry, still the wrong cube.
What we have here, folks, to our eternal despair, is the RUBIK's CUBE, clearly a device introduce in the eighties from the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact with the express intent of destroying America and her Allies in the decades-long fight against Communism. How many hours did this fiendish Engine of Death wrest from my young life in the eighties, taunting me, teasing me, shaming me for my inability to restore the colors---Yellow, Green, Red, Blue, White, and Orange---to their original sides, all in unity, unanimity, Soviet conformity. Three rows and three columns per side: 54 cubes of filth, of ignominy, of humilation. 54 cubic means by which to reduce us to Soviet satrapy!
The Rubik's Cube is 1984, writ small: it is totalitarian Communism.
All those smirking kids you knew in high school who could solve this infernal engine of destruction in a minute? Soviet KGB plants! Each had been mailed a detailed instruction booklet (in Russian, English, and Esperanto) on how to solve the vile thing weeks, if not months before it was unveiled to a slumbering West.
Be warned: the Rubik's Cube is highly addictive and ultimately serves as a soggy, uber-spiked Cat-O-Nine-Tails on your ego and self-esteem. It was made with the express intention of destroying the West and bringing down global capitalism by humiliating the West's greatest minds. My final point: this infernal engine of destruction was developed in Hungary by a mathematics/spacialist genius who never realized one dollar of profit from his insanely popular creation.
I rest my case. You were warned.
JSG
Customer Review: stickers easy to replace, range of quality with all similar cubes
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm an avid cuber, can easily solve it in under 30 seconds, and have been cubing since 1981, so I know what I'm talking about here, and wanted to respond to a couple of the comments.
First, the stickers. ALL the currently mass-produced cubes have stickers of the same very low quality. With even moderate use, these stickers will start to peel, usually starting with orange. The stickers are very easy to replace, and replacement stickers that are high quality and don't peel are widely available at a cost of about a buck for a complete set. For a casual cuber, just replacing the stickers once with high quality stickers should turn this into a very durable toy.
Where to get replacement stickers? The official page for Rubik's has replacement stickers that are low quality and what they call "PVC stickers" which are much better quality ($5 for 3 sets), and cubesmith, which only stocks the high quality non-peeling variety for $1.25 per complete set.
Second, with respect to the ease of turning, there is (unfortunately) a wide range of quality for these mass produced cubes when you first pull them out of the box. Many turn very smoothly right out of the box, but some are extremely stiff. ALL of them, however, will break in eventually and will get better with even a little bit of use, and (except for the stickers) Rubik's cubes almost never wear out (I still have the first one I bought in 1981). That makes this an incredible deal!
There is no way to tell the smooth cubes without opening the package and trying them out. Still, nearly any of these mass produced cubes that carry the official Rubik's logo will be good enough for the casual user. Knock-off cubes that you see from time to time are generally absolutely terrible when it comes to turning smoothly and wearing out quickly.
If you do get a cube that is stiff, keep playing with it and it will loosen up as it breaks in. It is also very helpful to spray a little lubricant into the cracks (a pure silicon based lubricant works best though even WD40 works in a pinch and should be more than adequate for a casual cuber).
Bottom line, the Rubik's Cube is an incredible puzzle--easily one of the most widely recognized objects around the world, and offers hours of enjoyment for about $10 or less. You can take it anywhere. Having one on your desk or playing with one in public is almost guaranteed to start a conversation. It's an icon of the 80s, but has had a huge resurgence in this decade. Also, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to solve it, and there are plenty of helpful websites for beginners who get stuck.
This cube is a good option for a beginner or casual cuber, but if you evolve into a serious cuber, there are better (and more expensive) options out there.
I hope this is helpful. Happy Cubing!
Customer Review: These are stiff, slow, heavy, and lock up - The cubes from Asia are way better!
Summary: 1 Stars
You're probably on this page because you're interested in a Rubiks cube so you typed in "Rubiks cube" in Amazon's search. Well, stop! Because I'll let you in on a secret ---- American cubes like Hasbro's or Winning Moves are actually considered some of the worst Rubiks cubes among speedsolvers and Rubiks fans. They are stiff, hard to turn, lock up, don't cut corners at all, and are heavy. Instead, I recommend you buy the professional speed cubing "Magic Cubes" from China ("Magic" is the literal translation in Chinese). They are faster, smoother, cut corners, lightweight, and comparable if not cheaper in price! The Chinese cubes feature an internal core with springs that you can adjust to change the smoothness and speed. Their internal structure is more unique and complicated than the American versions, making them faster and able to cut corners at 30 degrees at least. These are the cubes used by world record breakers in professional competitions. And they are cheap (roughly $4-12 with free shipping from China) I discovered these "Magic cubes" when I was on a trip to Asia last year, and I've been collecting Magic Cubes ever since. But you don't have to travel to Asia to buy them. Many Chinese websites, and eBay, sell them, and they are not scams!
For starters, this one of my best cubes that I own. It is called the "F-II" by Sheng En:
ShengEn FII Speed Cube White I'm actually surprised Amazon.com sells this cube (although it is actually from a vendor, who buys from China, haha!)
Also Google "Alpha V" and "GuHong" for more really good cubes. There are forums all over the internet about Rubiks cubes and speedsolving. Even beginners deserve good cubes, not these poorly made American cubes. Don't get suckered in to the bad cubes like this one just because you searched for "Rubiks cubes" on Amazon. Just trying to help everyone out. Don't buy the American toys, buy the Chinese toys. I'd never thought I'd say that. But in the case of Rubiks cubes, I'm totally right. Trust me!
Customer Review: There's a Reason Why This is a SOLID 5 Star Toy!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ahh...the memories! If I had to pick just one icon of the 80's, it would be Rubiks cube! If you think about it, this cube sums up an entire decade in one masterful stroke of genius! Like this cube, the 80's were FUN, Colorful, confusing, and sometimes frustrating! I don't know how many people know this (and I haven't read every review), but this cube was actually invented behind the "Iron Curtain" in the early 70's. Yep, a Commie made the worlds best selling puzzle in Hungary! The irony kills me! At the height of the Cold War! It was just blind luck that the Cube made it to the US after touring toy shows throughout Europe with little interest.
I think the last count of cubes sold worldwide since 1980 was somewhere between 500 to 800 million! Sheesh! Gives me hope that there are some people who are actually interested in exercising their brains!
The best memories I have of this cube was getting in trouble at school for bringing it to class! Back in 1981 the teacher would usually start the day off by confiscating everyones Rubiks cube! She would have a whole drawer full of cubes before class even started! Also, there were kids who made a lot of money off solving the cube for you!
I HIGHLY recommend you buy this for your child and just watch them play with it! It's so much fun! To date I still have NEVER solved this thing without taking it apart and I still have my mini Rubiks key chain which comes in handy, especially when you're waiting in line somewhere! People crowd and around and EVERYBODY has a story about this incredible toy!
There were more Rubiks puzzles that were put out between 1980 and 84 including the Pyramid, the Missing Link, and The Snake!
Note: You can still find original, early 80's, books on solving the cube! Just check for used online bookstores. I found one!
Customer Review: Need to fix the stickers
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought a new cube, and within the first day, the plastic laminate over the stickers began peeling off. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that grime gets easily trapped underneath the plastic laminate, causing the cube to look old and dirty after a couple of hours of manipulation. I returned the cube after two days of use, as it became too distracting for long term use as the plastic laminate started to peel away. The cube itself seems solidly built like the original, although it's somewhat too tight and isn't forgiving enough in misalignments initially. If you want to use it for speed cubing, you'll need to break it in.
I wouldn't recommend this version of the cube unless if you are going to use it as a display object. For real use, the stickers are exceedingly badly engineered for serious day-to-day usage.
BTW, OddZone does offer one free replacement kit for the stickers. If you go to ... and look under the FAQ (I assume that they've received enough complaints from people that they were forced to do this) you can request a free replacement sticker kit. I'm assuming the stickers are of the same quality as that which the cube came in, meaning that it doesn't really solve the sticker problem. (Although on their site they say that the stickers are PVC. The stickers certainly didn't seem like PVC on the original cube, but instead cheap paper covered in an even cheaper attempt at a laminate).
I'd recommend if you really want to get a cube to spend $12 more and get one with permanent tiles, which you can find at ..., although I've read they aren't as good for speed cubing.